Japanese Ambassador Gotaro Ogawa urged the government Thursday to find the culprits responsible for the still unsolved attack on a senior official of independent forestry monitor Global Witness. The April 30 attack came days after the group publicly said it had found evidence of illegal logging in a Kompong Thom province forest concession.
“I think it’s a very regrettable thing,” the ambassador said Thursday at a conference on Japanese aid to Cambodia.
“The perpetrators of this violence should be found and treated appropriately. Many donors are concerned about this incident.”
Ogawa’s warning will likely resonate with Cambodian officials since it comes less than a month before the Japanese government—Cambodia’s biggest contributor—is expected to announce its aid levels for the coming year.
International donors have in the past limited their aid to Cambodia based partially on the government’s inability to control illegal logging.
The beating of Global Witness official Eva Galabru has already been cited by the International Monetary Fund and others as grounds for deepening concern about Cambodia’s ability to police logging interests.
No direct evidence has linked the attack on Galabru to criminal elements in the logging sector. The incident was followed by a one-word e-mail to Galabru saying, “Quit.”
Forestry reform is among a handful of topics that donor countries are expected to discuss at the Consultative Group meeting in Phnom Penh next month.
Ogawa said it’s not clear yet how much money the Japanese government will donate to Cambodia next year. Japan gave $118 million in direct aid last year.
National Police Director-General Hok Lundy said he has not seen a complaint from Galabru. “The ministry and the police are welcome to do an investigation on this case if she files a complaint,” he said.
Galabru said Thursday she had filed a complaint with local police officials who work in the area where her office is located.
Chamkar Mon’s deputy governor, Kouch Chamroeun, said the investigation of the attack has gone nowhere.
“We found no sign of who they were, who they work for or where they came from,” he said of the two or three men responsible for the beating.
Despite the e-mail sent to Galabru the next day, Kouch Chamroeun said he thinks the attack was a personal dispute.
“I don’t think the case is related to her work or the government. It is very likely a family or personal dispute,” he said.
